Whispers in the Silence
by Dias
Summary: The two protagonists, Stephen and Wolfe, are drawn to Silent Hill in an odd set of events, and what follows is only a taste of what's really going on in the town that takes no prisoners...
1. Chapter 1

_Chapter 1_

Stephen shut the car door behind him with hat in hand as he turned to face the building he'd worked at for nearly two years now. It'd been a pain in the ass to work at a fast food restaurant (especially in the spring and summer, since they were _conveniently_ located across from a baseball park), but it brought the money in. Soon enough he'd be gone, though. College was, after all, just around the corner. It was an event that Stephen had marked on his calendar since the beginning of the year. Everything was going to change for him there.

"Let's see…," Stephen whispered to himself as his crystal blue eyes scanned over the row of cars in the back. "Michael… Stephanie… James… Don't know…" From left to right he looked, noting who was already inside. His eyes stopped on a white car parked right next to the dumpster area.

_And there's the ring leader._

Stephen shook his head and slipped the khaki cap onto his head. Another problem for another day. Or month. Or year. Or lifetime. Whatever, it didn't matter. Stephen was here to work for money and be on his way; personal feelings aside, he was okay. It meant nothing before, it meant nothing now, and probably never would mean anything. If that was how things were going to be, then why dwell on it? It wasn't worth it…

_Shut up. Quit stalling and get in there; to Hell with him._

Right. Stephen pocketed his keys and headed up the side of the building, all the while ignoring the customers sitting comfortably in their cars with maybe a passing glance. Stephen only wished those people knew how crappy they made things for everyone that worked inside. Maybe then they'd lay off. Or not. People were stubborn and ignorant; there was no telling them how things were.

Stephen sidestepped as one of the waitresses rushed out of the swinging glass door, and he stepped in as it shut behind him. The familiar (and unwelcome) smell of grease and fried food washed over him with a guarantee that it'd stick with him all night long and then some.

"Stephen, good to see you."

Stephen looked over the manager counter to see one of the older managers, Dan, wiping down his glasses. Usually, Stephen was glad to see that Dan was the one to manage, but somehow that knowledge didn't make things any better. Right now, being hit head-on by an eighteen-wheeler sounded better than having to put up with anymore of…

"Hey, Stephen."

Wolfe. Stephen felt a small knot build up in his stomach, and he could already tell that it was going to be a long, long night. Stephen forced a smile at Wolfe before walking past him and to the sink. No doubt that Wolfe wouldn't pay much more attention to him for the rest of the night, but so what? It wasn't surprising anymore. It was like he always had quote to fill of how much he talked to him, and he just filled it with two words. They had no real link with each other; Stephen knew shit about cars like Wolfe did, and spent most of his own time secluded in his house while Wolfe was almost always out and about with friends. Maybe that was where Wolfe got off at one point calling Stephen pessimistic all the time.

_So what is it you see in him?_

Stephen wished he could answer that for himself. The only thing he could ever tell himself was "I don't know," and it never helped. All he could do for now was wait impatiently for college. Then he'd have the time and distance from all of his problems here at home. He'd get away from all the filth of human life that he'd been around so long, away from the work place that'd taken up two and a half years of his life, and on to better things.

The night was rather slow, causing time to span out and go by even slower than usual. Everything was getting done on time, and Stephen managed to keep his focus on the tasks at hand all the way up to when Dan told him to go on break. So there he was sitting in his car in the back parking lot with only the sounds of a soft drizzle coming from the dark night sky. He, unlike usual, wasn't hungry for some reason. Actually, he felt pretty sick. Stephen released a shallow breath as he scanned his eyes over the darkened innards of his car. The glove compartment halted his vision. Stephen opened it up, and his digital camera slid smoothly down into view. Stephen grabbed it up and turned it on, the LCD screen illuminating his face. Stephen scrolled through the pictures, looking only momentarily over each one. There were some of him and his friends at a party, and then there were some of him and Eve in a nearby coffee shop…

_The wedding…_

Stephen stopped when the genre of pictures came up to his older sister's wedding. There she stood in immense beauty in a long white dress with her husband just minutes after they walked down the aisle. Stephen scrolled slowly on past, and stopped on a shot that his mother took of him as he stood with the rest of the ushers at the wedding. Stephen only stared at himself, feeling a sudden drop in his already-sullen mood. Stephen sighed inward and finally let the thoughts flow.

"Something I could never have…" Stephen felt his body shaking. "Even just like that, it's over. I'm a failure to my family…" Stephen released a small breath, "Mom, I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…" Stephen watched as a tear spread over the little screen of his camera.

Doomed to failure in his own family. He heard his mother on more occasions than one saying "Your wedding" this and "Your children" that. All things considered, Stephen knew that he could never have the wedding his parents would ever want be a part of. It had been that way for a long time, but it was really hitting now, the older he got.

_"I'm not accepting it."_

_"So, what, you'll just take it to your grave, then?"_

_"If I have to."_

Stephen shut the camera off and tossed it aside, pulling his hand up to his face. Nothing seemed to be going right. The wedding thing bugged him, but not as much as the fact that he didn't even feel like loving anymore. He could be alone, and if it meant not feeling like this anymore, it was fine by him…

"Hey, Stephen."

Stephen jumped slightly as Wolfe's silhouette appeared outside of his window. Stephen quickly wiped at his eyes and rolled down the window. Stephen offhandedly noticed that Wolfe was in a red, unbuttoned polo shirt, black t-shirt, and slightly worn-out blue jeans. Was he off work already…?

"How much longer have you got on break?" Wolfe asked, arms resting crossed on the windowsill.

Stephen reached in his pocket and pulled out his flip phone to check the time, but the screen on the outside was acting up; static lines skewered horizontally through the tiny screen. Stephen gently hit the side of the thin phone, but the screen continued to break up. Stephen silently cursed the device and flipped it open. The larger screen on the inside was wavering unsteadily, stretching and distorting in all directions and morphing the wallpaper. Stephen pushed at the buttons, feeling his annoyance level rise little by little at this. Once his finger hit the call button, the phone's receiver burst out with static and caused Stephen to drop it. The impact with the floor shut the phone and instantly stopped the noise, dousing the area in silence once again.

"You okay?" Wolfe asked with a nonchalant glance at the phone.

"Y-Yeah…," Stephen glanced at the clock above his tape deck to avoid anymore questions about whatever just happened, "Thirteen minutes."

Wolfe smiled. Stephen felt his face burn lightly as he steadied his voice into asking, "Why?"

"There's something you need to see," Wolfe whispered, as if making sure no one else could hear, leaning in to the point that his face was just inches from Stephen's, "It shouldn't take took long. Just follow me down the road." Wolfe smirked coyly.

Stephen just sat and stared as Wolfe stepped back. This seemed odd, but there were times when Wolfe did acknowledge his existence. This just happened to involve something that apparently would interest Stephen.

"Well?" Wolfe asked. He was still leaned in slightly, and Stephen could actually smell the hint of mint on his breath.

"I…," Stephen looked back at the clock. Twelve minutes was all he had, so what harm could it do? Just a short drive and he'd be back. "Alright, lead the way."

Wolfe nodded and stepped back, "Good. Let's go." He then headed for his respective car. Wolfe usually just went on to do his own thing whenever they were off the clock around the same time, but he came over to Stephen's car and wanted to take him somewhere, suddenly?

_And you're complaining about it. So, which is stranger, hm?_

Point taken. Stephen figured that he had time to a short drive. Somehow, he felt a little lighter, the same feeling he'd always get when he and Wolfe always spoke more than usual, and were able to just laugh like friends. It was always a good feeling; short-lived, but good. Stephen started his car up, and pulled up behind Wolfe at the edge of the road. As he pulled out into the street with Wolfe, he noticed that a slight fog had settled down over the area that slightly dampered the vision. Stephen thanked whatever was out there that the roads were relatively clear.

Stephen rolled down the windows, letting the warm night air inside to clear up his senses. There were two kinds of drives he enjoyed making: late night, and rainy. If both happened together, it was always a plus. Ever since he had the freedom that was a car, Stephen found it to be the relief from life at home. It was a way for him to get with friends, to go out and do his own thing, and to just take a break.

Stephen felt the need to turn around after another twenty minutes. Late was one thing, but not showing back up? That would mean his job, and Stephen didn't quite want to go that far yet… Still, something was telling him to go on. Maybe it was the urge to at least have this time with Wolfe. Stephen didn't want to just abandon Wolfe, and he found himself becoming more and more curious about what Wolfe thought was so important to see.

Stephen rolled up the windows farther along the road. The fog was insanely thick, making it almost impossible to see Wolfe's car just dead ahead. Suddenly, his relaxation seemed to be a bit more of a nerve-racking tread on the high wire. Stephen couldn't really see what was on the sides of the road because of the fog, but there had to be somewhere they could stop and wait for the fog to clear up some or daybreak (whichever came first). Stephen reached down into the floorboard blindly and grabbed at his phone, flipping it open without even looking at it. There was no faint light to signify it's power. The screw up earlier must have done something to it.

"Great," Stephen whispered to himself as he reached over and flicked the high beams on and off a couple of times to try and get Wolfe to stop. The lights didn't seem to mean anything to the leader of this trip, though.

_Damn it, for once listen to me._

Stephen tried again, but still nothing. Just as he was ready to try for a third time, something dark threw itself out in front of Stephen's car.

"Shit!"

Stephen jerked the wheel to the right, the foggy night air becoming nothing less of a blur with the sound of screeching tires. The car swerved and skidded sideways. Whatever jumped out got hit with one swift blow, the definite _thud_ audible over the rest. Stephen lost control of the vehicle by now, and the only thing he managed to see was the back of Wolfe's car right in his path.

---

"Go on Wolfe, you go on break, too. We're not that busy, so far."

Wolfe dropped the rag he was holding. They didn't have to tell him twice, not tonight. He'd been waiting to hear those words, but he'd much rather have heard "Go on home." Tonight was his and Whitney's one year anniversary, and he was a dumbass for not having asked off for it. Wolfe walked through the break room and up to the front, figuring Whitney would at least like a call from him wishing the best for now until they could _really_ celebrate. His phone had been going crazy all night long so far, and he hadn't been out of Dan's view long enough to check what was going on. Whitney was probably just wishing Wolfe would get off early or something. If only it were that easy. Wolfe stepped out onto the patio, giving a quick hello to one of the passing waitresses before pulling out his phone.

"Thirteen missed calls? Goddamn…"

Every one of the calls came from Whitney. Wolfe chuckled to himself, shaking his head at his girlfriend's attempts at reaching him on such a night. He couldn't blame her, though, because he was excited about it all, too. Wolfe dialed up his voicemail as he took his hat off and ran a hand through his black hair.

"You have… thirteen unheard messages," the cool, monotonous female voice told him. "To check unheard messages, press—"

Wolfe pressed one without letting the mechanical voice finish, and Whitney's voice filled his head. The only problem was that the message scrambled up, making it next to incoherent. "Wolfe! He--…scared. Help m--… Coming… Silent Hill!"

"End of message."

Wolfe felt his body shaking, felt his mouth go to cotton. He pressed seven to delete the message, and listened to the next on. "Wolfe! He--…scared. Help me--… Coming… Silent Hill!"

"End of message."

Wolfe deleted the message, only to hear the same thing again, and again, and again. It was the same exact message from Whitney thirteen times.

_Silent Hill…_

Wolfe dialed up Whitney's number from memory. He'd never even heard of such a place. He waited, but there came no ringing. Instead he heard instantly, "Hey guys, it's Whitney! Not here, so just leave a message!" followed by a beep.

_Shit…_

"How goes it?"

Wolfe flinched and turned around at the sound of his best friend's, Kyle, voice. "Damn it, man, you know not to do that to me… What are you doing up here? You're off tonight."

"You know me. I got nothin' better to do," Kyle replied as he took a drag of the cigarette in his lips. "On break?"

"Yeah, but I'm not hanging around." Wolfe was already walking towards the back of the building, giving a quick explanation of what just happened.

"That's fucked up, dude," Kyle replied once they reached Wolfe's car. Wolfe found it hard to believe that was all Kyle had to say about this.

"Silent Hill… Where is it?" Wolfe asked him.

"There's no way she's there, dude. You probably heard her wrong; you did say that the message was screwed up, didn't you?"

"Yeah, but I _know_ I heard her say 'Silent Hill' out of all of it." Wolfe started up the engine, "So how do you get there?"

"I'm telling you, forget it. That's not a place you want to--."

"I'm going!" Wolfe grabbed Kyle by the collar and pulled slightly, glaring his own best friend dead in the eyes. "Tell me how to get there!"

Kyle was watching back with slightly wider eyes than usual. Wolfe hoped that he was getting a point across, even to someone that could be as stubborn as Kyle. Whitney was out there, and Kyle at least seemed to know something about Silent Hill. Wolfe let go of Kyle and unlocked the doors, "Get in. We're going."

"Silent Hill was deserted some time ago. No one really knows what happened," Kyle explained as he flicked his cigarette out the window. "Some say it's haunted."

Wolfe felt an uneasy knot of dread build up, but it wouldn't stop him now. Whitney was out there somewhere, somewhere in this place called Silent Hill. She'd sounded extremely panicky… What could have happened? She never mentioned anything about going out of town on their anniversary. Wolfe gripped slightly tighter on the wheel, his knuckles going white. The air outside was humid, bringing in the smell that usually accompanied summer nights. Time felt like it was crawling even slower, making it harder and harder to get to Silent Hill in time.

"…Thanks." Wolfe sighed out finally.

Kyle shrugged it off like he did most things before leaning his seat back a bit. "You know that you won't be able to get back to work till at least tomorrow, though, right? It's a long drive to Silent Hill."

"Well… It's something I have to do. Whitney might be in trouble, and I'm not about to let that go, even if you think it's nothing," Wolfe replied as he continued down the interstate. Work was nothing compared to Whitney.

"I'm just saying," Kyle continued, "the place has been closed off for some time now. My grandparents used to live there when I was a kid. After they got put into their retirement home, they'd always kept in touch with their friends in Silent Hill." Kyle glanced out the window at the trees that zoomed by, creating a blur along the side of the road. "There was some kind of accident some time after my grandparents left, they said."

Wolfe felt the knot of dread tighten in his chest, but he listened.

"They never did hear from their friends again, or anyone from Silent Hill, for that matter. You can call, but you'll only get a busy signal."

Wolfe interrupted here, feeling sweat break out on his skin, "What kind of accident? Hasn't anyone gone back?"

Kyle stayed quiet, either thinking about it too much or not wanting to say. Wolfe glanced over, and Kyle finally answered, "No one knows what happened in Silent Hill. Yeah, people have gone back, but there's nobody in Silent Hill anymore. It's just a deserted town, left to be forgotten."

"No one at all?" Wolfe asked.

Kyle shook his head, "People go there to investigate, but they find nothing but empty buildings and streets. Nobody lives there, and eventually they had the place barricaded off. That's why I'm saying that it's impossible that Whitney is there, man."

Wolfe already made it a point how serious he was about going, and he wasn't about to reiterate it. Considering the subject closed, he took the information Kyle gave him as motivation to keep going. If it was abandoned, then Whitney couldn't be in trouble. But those voicemails…

Wolfe turned on his high beams, as the blanket of fog that settled over time had become even thicker at this point. Kyle continued pointing him in the direction he needed to be, and every passing second made Wolfe feel like he was running out of time. He'd probably get fired for not going back to work for the night, but that seemed like such a small detail at this point. Whitney was his everything. If anything ever happened to her…

Something flashed brightly behind them. "What's that?"

Kyle shrugged with a quick glance in the mirror, "That car's been behind us for awhile…"

Wolfe winced as the car's high beams flashed again, "Jesus, I can't go on any faster in this fog, man, lay off the lights…"

The flash suddenly became a streak of light that smeared in the fog. The car was losing control, and it was swerving right at them.

_Gonna die._

Screeching tires shrieked through the air as the vehicle was only one swing away. Wolfe closed his eyes, readying himself for the impact and wishing so many things that did no good now…

"Move!" Kyle dove over and grabbed the wheel as soon as Wolfe opened his eyes again.

Kyle jerked the wheel to the left, and sound of tires screeching cut through the quiet night air. Wolfe snapped out of his tranced state fast enough to regain control of the car. He and Kyle spun out just as the car behind them slammed by, taking the passenger-side mirror with it. The crunch of metal was instantly lost in the _whoosh_ of the other car barreling by. Almost an instant later, there was the sound of the other car slamming into a ditch on the side of the road just as Wolfe and Kyle passed by.

Wolfe jerked, and suddenly felt his heart beating again. They'd just nearly avoided a wreck that surely would have killed them both, and suddenly they were once again heading down the road like nothing happened. "You okay?" he asked, though it wasn't really what he'd wanted to come out. 'Okay' didn't really seem to fit right now, for anything.

Kyle rubbed at his temple, his hand coming away slightly red and wet as he groaned slightly "Yeah… It's cool. You?"

Wolfe felt fine, minus the hyperventilating and suddenly urge to simply freak out. He felt a few pains here and there, but nothing unbearable. "Yeah… yeah, I'm good."

There were several long moments of silence. Wolfe felt like he was going to be sick with everything that was going on. He was hours away from home, nearly died in the middle of nowhere…

"Shit…," Wolfe hissed as a small yellow light blinked on from the consol.

"Check engine," Wolfe whispered, and his eyes fell reflexively on the temperature sensor for the engine. "Overheating…"

Wolfe pulled the car to the side of the road, wondering, yet not really wanting to find out, how this night could get any worse. He killed the engine and leaned back into his seat. Kyle wasn't saying anything. What was there to say? Added on to everything this night had to offer before, the engine was practically shot, and now they were stranded on the side of the road miles from known civilization. All-in-all, this _sucked_.

Wolfe pulled out his phone and dialed up Whitney's number again, tapping his fingers idly on the wheel of the car. There was no ringing, yet again. It just went straight to her voicemail. "Damn it…," he pocketed the phone. "Well, we can't just sit here," Wolfe finally said after opening the door. "Let's go a bit farther ahead. I'm not abandoning Whitney for anything."

"Dude, that doesn't seem like a good idea…"

"Then what the Hell do you want to do? You can go back and see if whoever almost wrecked us would like to help get you back home, but I'm not stopping until I find Whitney." Wolfe moved behind his car and opened the trunk. There was plenty of crap back there, but in a compartment on the side was what he was looking for. "Take this." Wolfe tossed one of two flashlights at Kyle, and kept the other for himself.

Kyle stared thoughtfully at the flashlight for a moment, obviously contemplating his options here. After a few more seconds, he flicked it on, "Alright. Let's go."

Wolfe was hoping he'd say that; honestly, he was scared. He was scared for himself, for Kyle, for Whitney… But he wouldn't abandon either. "Alright…" Wolfe turned on his flashlight, and the two began to walk down the road, leaving the shelter of the vehicle behind.

The two lights didn't do too much in the fog, as there was maybe a three foot radius that they could see, but it was at least something. Wolfe was grateful that Kyle at least had a couple of extra cigarettes on hand, as both already lit one up. It really did a lot for the nerves, even under these circumstances.

"Kinda creepy, huh?" Kyle whispered within the exhalation of smoke.

"I guess so…," Wolfe replied, taking a long drag on the cigarette before tossing it aside with a final puff as he tried to forget Kyle even said that. They'd been walking for a little while, following the single, lonely road that winded on and on and no sign of anything. "More reason to get the Hell out of…"

Wolfe trailed off and stopped once his flashlight fell upon a wooden post in the ground. A few meters to the right was another similar post. Wolfe moved the beam of light up the posts, then stopped. "Kyle…"

Kyle was up ahead, but stopped and brought his light to meet with Wolfe's. Together, the lights illuminated a large wooden sign. Two lights hung dead of life from the peeling, aging wood. The sign read "Welcome to Silent Hill – We've been expecting you."


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2_

_Something's… warm…_

_"Hey, Stephen." Stephen looked up at the sound of his name. There stood Jake in the back, looking in the break room at Stephen. Stephen smiled and gave a slight wave in response..._

_He'd only been working a week, but already he felt better about his first job than he did before. It was like he was suddenly part of another family; a big family, but still. Jake had been there for him since he started, showing him the way of things here and there, joking around with him, and just being a cool person all around. At first Stephen felt a bit intimidated, and ended up snapping at Jake not long ago because he thought that Jake was being sarcastic about his compliments to Stephen's work. Stephen had been pleasantly disproved, and it really gave him a feeling of confidence not only in himself, but the things he was doing._

_Stephen leaned over in the cheat metal chair he was sitting in and looked at the TV mounted just above the back sink. On it was a camera's view of the kitchen, showing Jake from the back chopping up something Stephen couldn't see. In the lower-right corner was the display of '16:58'. Army time was something he was going to have to get used to…_

_Stephen counted in his head from zero until he figured that '15' was four o'clock. In the time it took for him to figure that out, another minute had passed. Stephen got up and quickly walked past the large ice machine and a couple of ice cream mixers to the clock. He looked over the manager's desk to yet another TV screen showing the camera's view of the back, and watched the time until it reached 17:00. Stephen pushed in his given number into the clock, and finished with "Clock in". The slip of paper came out showing his name and the current time, signifying that it was now his time to give to the work place. Stephen slipped the sheet on the manager's desk (which was currently empty of people) and slipped around past one of the waitresses and back through to the kitchen._

_"You finally on?" Jake asked Stephen, looking up from the mess of whatever he'd been cutting._

_"Yep. I'm here again," Stephen walked over to the sink and washed his hands quickly while Jake put a lid on the mixture he was putting together and slapped a label sticker on it. "Whatcha got going?"_

_Jake hefted up the tub and headed over to the walk-in cooler, "Just a mixture of eggs and sausage pieces that we roll up into a tortilla with cheese. Prep work. Easy way to kill time if we need some and there's nothing better to do, y'know?"_

_Stephen laughed a little to himself as the door to the cooler shut behind Jake. Jake seemed like the type that tried to work as little as possible and still get the job done. Stephen liked it. It wasn't really being lazy, but it didn't strain too much on anything. _

_Later that night, Stephen sat outside at one of the tables with the few people left after hours. Jake, Anthony, Heather, and Tonya were all sitting around him, talking of things Stephen didn't really know a lot about. This was the first time Stephen had stayed at work until close, and he'd learned a few things along the way. Everyone tried to help out a little bit, and it made him feel good. He felt welcome here._

_"Hey, Stephen." _

_Stephen looked up when Heather spoke to him, and saw that all eyes were on him. "Yeah?"_

_"What's that?" Heather pointed at Stephen's left arm._

_Stephen felt his face redden slightly, embarrassed that they had found the numerous scars that were carved into his arm. Inerasable reminders of times that were best forgotten, forever gashed into him… "My cat went a little crazy."_

_Heather smiled and chuckled, "Well, take it easy with your pets next time, okay?"_

_Stephen nodded and smiled, feeling the flush leaving, "Yeah, I will."_

_Jake yawned a bit and slapped his hands on the table, pushing himself up to his feet and stretching, "Well, I'm out, guys. Hey, Stephen, have you called your ride up here yet?"_

_Stephen gave himself a mental kick in the ass, unable to believe he'd forgotten to do that. His mom was probably already getting worried enough that'd he'd been gone so long. "Damn, no… Anyone got a phone I can use?"_

_Jake motioned Stephen to follow him, "Hey, no problem. Just point me in the direction you need to go, and I'll get you there."_

_Stephen bit his lower lip, thinking it through in just a matter of seconds. He trusted Jake, so why not? Stephen stood up and grabbed his hat from the table with a goodbye to everyone else, and followed Jake to his truck in the back. "You know you don't have to, right?"_

_Jake nodded and unlocked the doors. Stephen pulled the door open and sat in the black leather passenger seat with a soft sigh. Jake tossed his hat and apron into the back before settling down into the driver side and revving up the engine. The speakers instantly let out some punk-rock music by a band Stephen didn't instantly recognize, and the windows rolled down to let in the warm spring air. _

_"Make a left," Stephen pointed out to Jake as soon as they neared the road, "and just continue down for awhile."_

_Stephen closed his eyes, feeling the breeze and smell of the night blow in over him as they drove out on the open road. It was nice, even if he was heading back home for awhile…_

_"You're lying." Jake broke off Stephen's train of thought._

_"What?"_

_"You're lying," Jake repeated. "About your arm, remember?"_

_Stephen felt that red returning to his face, feeling no way out of this already. "…Yeah."_

_"So what's up? You can talk to me, man." Jake didn't look at Stephen, but rather kept his eyes on the road. "Not that you have to, of course."_

_"No, it's okay…," Stephen lied again. "It's just… issues. It's not big or anything, just… stuff."_

_"Not big, huh?" Jake gave a sideways glance with those cool gray eyes underneath brown bangs, "Don't lie your way through me. Cuts like that aren't from small issues."_

_Stephen chewed his lower lip, still looking outside the window at the passing buildings and trees. He'd never really told anyone other than Jonathan the truth about a lot of things. Secrets were one thing, but somehow all of this seemed beyond all that. Jonathan had always been there for him, though. He listened and helped Stephen, despite being pissed about the cuts…_

_"Girlfriend problems?" Jake asked, breaking the silence yet again when Stephen didn't answer._

_"Not exactly...," Stephen whispered, unsure of how he really should answer this. He wanted to be honest with Jake, because he liked Jake… He didn't want to lie anymore, not to someone like Jake. "Just family things… I mean, I guess it could be under the relationship category, but…" Stephen trailed off, not able to allow himself to finish. He waited for the ridicule._

_Instead of ridicule, all Jake said was, "I see where you're coming from now."_

_Stephen wasn't sure what to say, but somehow he felt grateful. Jake understood him. Stephen felt like he should have been relieved, but the tension was still in his body. He suddenly felt like he wanted to say everything now that he knew Jake understood and _listened_…_

_Wake up._

Stephen opened his eyes at the throbbing pain in his head and chest. It felt like a wrecking ball was going on a rampage throughout his body. His vision wasn't coming around fast, but he could still make out his steering wheel and needles on the blacked out consol. The smell of smoke and car fumes was faint in the air, but noticeable. It was a smell Stephen was used to by now, since his radiator one time leaked fluid and nearly fried everything in the hood of the car.

Stephen couldn't bring himself to move yet, but felt his body being pushed forward and down some. He remembered following Wolfe, something dashing out in front of his car, there was a lot of swerving and screeching tires, then…

_Then… what? Damn, how long have I been out…?_

It was still dark out, making seeing even more of a hassle. Stephen groaned a bit and finally sat up with some effort. His seatbelt snapped some time before, and his door was bent to the point it was just hanging on the car without anything to hold it shut. The near-wreck landed him and his car nose-first into a ditch. Stephen was no car expert, but he could tell that this thing wasn't going anywhere now. Stephen fumbled around in the darkness of his car and grasped his phone. He flipped it open, but there came no illumination of any kind. The thing was dead.

_A hundred and fifty bucks and this is what I get… Piece of shit._

Stephen tossed it down back into the floorboard and rubbed at his eyes. He took a couple of deep breaths, trying to pull himself together. After several long, quiet moments, Stephen gave a couple of hard pushes on the door. After the third shove, the door creaked loudly and swung open. Stephen squinted as he pulled himself out of the car and into the thicker-than-ever fog. From what little Stephen could see, he was alone on the road. Stephen felt around in his pockets, searching for his lighter. He didn't smoke, but he did carry the lighter around just for the Hell of it. Looks like it would have come in handy if he could find it…

_Oh, yeah… It was in my jeans._

Stephen stepped behind his car and opened up the trunk. There was an emergency kit his granddad got him for the car (yeah, a lot of good it was going to do now), his bag from school, scattered papers, and there in the back was the pair of jeans Stephen was searching for. He lifted them up, and from under them fell a black t-shirt with some skateboard logo on it. Stephen looked back and forth between the pants and shirt, then at himself still in work clothes.

"Well," Stephen sighed to himself, "they always say to travel in comfort…" Stephen hated his work clothes, anyway.

Stephen gave a quick look around, suddenly expecting to see somebody just because he decided to change on the side of the road. No such anybody made their presence aware, and in no time Stephen had changed up. He reached in the pocket of the pants, and pulled out a small black lighter. "Thank you, much…" Stephen spun the wheel three times, and the small flame flickered to life. It didn't help a lot, but it did give off a little more to see. He tossed his work clothes into the trunk and shut it, feeling at least a little more at himself despite the circumstances.

"Wolfe…" Stephen whispered, suddenly feeling reality crashing back onto him and remembering how all of this happened. "Lousy son of a bitch…" Stephen whispered, climbing up the small grassy slope back onto the road. "Telling me there's something I need to see, then driving off after I nearly get killed…" Stephen looked left and right to see which way he was coming from, and to figure out which way he should go. Home was hours away by car with only a gas station between here and there, and he didn't know what else was ahead. Wolfe was probably up ahead… There had to be civilization somewhere up ahead.

Stephen's attention was caught by a smear in the road right about where he hit whatever jumped out at him. Stephen knelt down with his lighter still aflame and noticed that the smear was dark red. He ran a finger in it, and it came back wet. Stephen wasn't stupid enough to know it to be anything other than blood. Blood didn't necessarily bother Stephen. The fact that there were still drops that trailed away in the direction Stephen was originally headed when following Wolfe _did_ bother him slightly. The drops only went a couple of feet before stopping, as if whatever he hit either disappeared or just stopped bleeding altogether and kept going.

_Neither of which seem likely… So then maybe someone picked it up? That doesn't settle well with me, either…_

What did it matter? He was sitting here contemplating something that had no way of helping him out. Deciding that Wolfe would have at least stopped to check on him had he come back this way, Stephen decided to keep going forward in hopes of catching up somehow. He snapped the lighter shut and began to walk along the lonely, winding road.

"Lousy son of a bitch," Stephen muttered again with shallow breaths farther down the road. "I'll have something to show _you_ whenever I get my hands on you… Lead me out here and then just drive off like that…"

Despite his anger, Stephen found it eerily easy to focus on what wasn't going on around him. It was mid summer, so where were all the noises? Animals, insects, wind… Nothing was there. There was a forest and lake nearby, so where were the inhabitants? It was like the entire area was holding its breath, just waiting for something to happen.

"Ugh," Stephen stopped and held his stomach for a moment, feeling a light pain spread out inside him before contracting back into nothing. "Damn…"

Stephen shook the feeling off. Nerves were nothing that needed to get in the way now. Determined to find some way to get back home, he continued walking forward. It was just a matter of finding someone to help him, was all. Then he'd think about finding Wolfe to make sure he was good to go, and be on his way. Stephen would get home, take a shower then crash. Eventually he would probably call work to explain what happened, and life would continue almost normal. Then college…

"Hey…" During all of his thinking, Stephen almost missed the ever-familiar white car stopped on the side of the road. Even from a small distance, Stephen could tell it was empty and that there was a small trickle of smoke rising up from the hood. Wolfe had been here, and apparently had car troubles of his own.

_Serves you right, asshole._

The next question was simple. Where was Wolfe? With lighter back in hand, Stephen peered closely into the driver side window, but saw no more than an empty inside. Stephen pulled back and sighed, looking back at the road.

"…Hey!" Stephen stepped back onto the road as he saw something moving ahead in the fog that disappeared just seconds later. Stephen broke into a jog to catch up, pocketing the lighter along the way. "Hey, hold up!" Stephen reached out as soon as he saw the movement again, and found his hand landing right onto Wolfe's shoulder.

"Whoa, man… Take it easy." Wolfe said, turning around to face him. "Did I lose you somewhere back there? I was sure you turned back home…"

Stephen stared at Wolfe. After that entire event, Wolfe thought he just turned tail and left? The urge to slug him was growing more and more, but Stephen refrained. "No… No, I didn't. My car went off road into a ditch, and here I am. I saw that you had a couple of problems, too."

Wolfe nodded, "Yeah, but what can you do? Well, I'm glad you're here." Wolfe said, continuing to walk down the road with Stephen close behind. "I can finally show you what I meant to before."

Stephen scoffed inwardly. Wolfe was still dead set on showing something that was only supposed to be down the road from work, and it ended up being hours away? Again, after everything that just happened. "And?" Stephen finally asked.

Wolfe stopped and looked at Stephen with that same coy smirk on his face like there was a joke he just couldn't wait to tell, "Take a look."

Stephen followed Wolfe's eyes up to a large sign of some sort. He could barely make out the faded white letters on the aged, flaking wood. "Welcome to Silent Hill – We've been expecting you."

Stephen looked back at Wolfe, "Okay, some town. You took me from work, probably lost my job, and cost me a bundle in car damage for a _town_?" Stephen stepped up face to face with Wolfe, staring him down with an anger he never knew he had. "You better have a damn good reason for all of this."

Wolfe took a step back, "Hey, hey, calm down… This isn't just a town, Stephen." He kept walking, and Stephen continued to be the follower on what he saw as a snowballing wild goose chase.

"And what the Hell is that supposed to mean?" Stephen asked as they neared a large set of scattered boards and barricades. Somewhere in the middle, some of the barricades had already been pushed out of the way like someone had already been through them.

"This is a town where all of your deepest desires can come true," Wolfe stepped through the opening with Stephen right behind, "and I figured it would be a good place for you to be. And I figured you'd also like a little bit of company…"

Stephen flushed some and almost tripped on a fallen plank of wood. That anger was already leaking away. "Yeah, because this looks like a place where dreams come true…"

Wolfe laughed a little, but kept walking on, "Oh, your dreams will come true here…"

Stephen looked around as they entered Silent Hill itself. The town really didn't seem much more alive than its surrounding area, and was as desolate as Stephen thought it looked. Why were there no street lights, all-night diners, or bars? Windows in empty buildings were either shattered or boarded up, doors were cracked down them middle or off the hinges completely, and the darkness of night only added to the thick, foggy air by casting shadows about like living creatures… And somehow, Stephen couldn't find it in himself to be nervous by what he saw.

"So how does this place 'grant your deepest desires', as you put it?" Stephen asked, sticking close to Wolfe as he looked around at the new surroundings, noting the word "Paradise" spray painted in red letters on the front of what looked like a produce store.

"Oh, it just seems to have its ways, y'know?" Wolfe replied as he stopped at a small set of stairs that led into a small area of shops set away from the main road. "Do you mind for a moment?" Wolfe asked, stopping in front of a set of bathrooms.

_Gotta take care of business at a time and place like this? _

"Er, sure thing… Go ahead." Stephen sat on the edge of an empty, crusted fountain with some kind of dirty plaque on the front. "I'll just wait here…"

Wolfe opened the creaky Men's room door and flicked the light on inside just before the door shut with a metallic _clang_ behind him. Stephen sighed and rubbed at his arm for a moment, trying to figure out what he should do now. Silent Hill was apparently deserted besides himself and Wolfe. Wolfe was acting real funny, too… But under the circumstances, it was understandable. Sort of. Stephen rested his chin on his hands, closing his eyes for a moment. He didn't realize until just now how tired he really was. Everyone at work was probably wondering where the Hell he and Wolfe were at, but there was no way of reaching them right now. Maybe Wolfe had his phone.

"Hey, Wolfe," Stephen stood up and knocked on the door of the bathroom. "You got your phone with you? We should probably at least call back home and let everyone know what's going on, don't you think?" Seconds passed, and no response. No sound. Nothing. "Wolfe?" Stephen knocked again. Seconds passed, and nothing.

_Hell, what'd you do? Fall in?_

Stephen pulled at the handle, but the door didn't budge any. Stephen pulled harder, and still nothing. He didn't remember hearing it lock behind Wolfe. Stephen got ready to knock again, when suddenly a knock emitted from the other side of the Women's room door. Stephen blinked, hand still up just inches away from the Men's room door. Stephen knocked again, and again there came a knock from the inside of the Women's room. Stephen stepped over to the other door and pulled at the handle. The door creaked open easily, and the smell of bleach whispered out into the air.

"Oh my God…"

Stephen stepped back as the door opened fully, and revealed a normal public restroom, complete with stained tile floor and walls, a toilet, a sink, and a mirror. But from the ceiling hung a massive puppet that looked like one of the figures he used a long time ago to help draw poses. It was suspended by the wrists, ankles, and neck by dirty ropes that swayed the doll ever so slowly. The arms were raised at different levels, bent at the elbows. The right leg was pulled up slightly, and the left hung completely limp. The mannequin's head hung low, casting shadows over its blank face and body with help of the bare, flickering bulb stuck in the dingy ceiling.

Stephen took a step through the doorway as time seemed to freeze around him. He stared at the lifeless doll that hung before him like some kind of morbid décor. He wanted to leave, to wake up from what seemed like could only be a dream. There was no doubt in Stephen's mind that this was somehow reality, though. He was really here in a place called Silent Hill.

_Ffft…_

Stephen whirled around at the soft sliding sound. He heard it again. It was coming from the other side of the wall from the outside. Something or someone was against the wall, slowly pushing their way to the door. They had to be hurt or sick to be leaning on the wall and moving like that. The only other person Stephen had seen before, though was Wolfe…

"Hello…?" Stephen whispered, staring at the open door. He still somehow felt the empty face of the mannequin staring down at him with unseen eyes, hanging there and crying at him in pain and torment of its disposition.

The soft sound emitted again, and Stephen took a step away from the doorway. It wasn't Wolfe, and Stephen knew that now. His mind was screaming at him to run through the door and not look back, to run until he was all the way back home, safe and sound. Stephen knew he couldn't, though. Not until he knew Wolfe was with him and okay.

Long seconds passed in silence, and Stephen waited to hear the noises again. Nothing came. The only sounds now were his own beating heart and the faint creak of the ropes above. Stephen swallowed dryly and took a step forward. As that step was made, a disfigured hand reached out from the other side of the door frame. It was dark brown and wrinkled, several stained bandages wrapped around its palm between the thumb and index finger. Stephen retracted the step he made in an instant, watching as the hand grabbed the door frame. The sound came again. Whoever it was, they were pulling themselves into view now. Stephen kept going back farther and farther until he was backed into the wall between the toilet and sink.

The person came into view, and suddenly Stephen wasn't even sure if he could call it a person. It's body was humanoid, but the resemblance stopped there. It was wearing some kind of ratty loincloth, belted to it's waist with some kind of red tendrils that dripped what could only be blood. It seemed starved, as its leather-like skin was pulled over it body, revealing bones in a scrawny frame underneath the too-tight flesh. Finally it looked at Stephen. It was wearing a tan mask that was as blank as the mannequin hanging from the ceiling, but had two slits where one could see through, as well as two similar slits where the mouth would be. It finally brought itself within full view, and in its left hand was a long metal pipe, and it was still staring at Stephen.

Stephen pressed against the wall, wishing he could just disappear through it, but no such thing seemed likely now. The person… _thing_ took an uneasy step into the bathroom, its masked head jerking downward. It took one more step, and it was already fully in the bathroom. Three steps or less and it would be on top of Stephen. He couldn't run past it in such a small room, and he didn't have any way of offense, either.

_Whoosh._

The thing wasn't apparently waiting to cross the room to get to Stephen. It swung its pipe horizontally with a short grunt. Stephen somehow ducked fast enough to avoid it, but he felt and heard the air distort just above him. Instantly after came the sound of glass cracking. Stephen noticed several shards of mirror hit the tiled floor and rattled down flat. Without thinking, Stephen grabbed the biggest shard he saw and thrust it point-first forward at the thing's ribs. His hand came back with a few small cuts, but out spewed small rivers of brown from the aggressor. The thing grunted again and staggered backwards. Its empty face looked once again at Stephen, and Stephen knew it meant to kill him. If stabbing it phased it, Stephen couldn't tell anymore.

The creature pulled the pipe one-handed overhead, and Stephen was already on the move. He rolled to the side as soon as the pipe crashed down into the floor. The force was strong enough to shatter apart the grungy tiles and send them flying in a small cloud of dust. Stephen grabbed the pipe and pulled as hard as he could. As it pried free of the thing's grip, Stephen heard the sound of bone snapping as if the fingers had been in a permanent grip on the metallic pole. Stephen rolled to his feet and uppercut the thing's chin. Its head jerked backward with eyes on the ceiling, and its body leaned back for the fall. The creature's stamina was better than the body appearance let off, because it slung itself back up with no visible signs of pain.

Stephen gripped the rusty pipe and swung one more time. The pipe slapped into the abomination from the side, and Stephen used its stumbling moment to run past it and out the door into the foggy outside.

"Wolfe!" Stephen screamed out, banging on the Men's room door. "Wolfe, get out of there! We have to get out of here! Come on!" He banged his fist once more, "Wolfe!"

The door finally opened up, and nobody was inside the dirty restroom. Stephen wanted to know what the Hell was going on, both with that thing that tried to kill him and Wolfe's attitude. His length of time was reminded by the creature groaning lowly, it's shuffling steps echoing from inside the Women's room still. With one last look at the bathroom, Stephen began to run, and he didn't look back.

---

"So there was an accident that caused Silent Hill to end up a ghost town?" Wolfe looked around at the tall, silent buildings that lined the road they were on. He and Kyle ended up pushing through some barricades not far after the giant welcome sign.

"That would be my first guess," Kyle responded.

Wolfe and Kyle traversed the main road from where they came into Silent Hill. If Whitney was here, there was no sign of it. Everything was just as Kyle said: deserted, and left here to be forgotten. But something seemed so unnatural about the air around them. It was something that made Wolfe want to find Whitney and leave as soon as possible. Wolfe's flashlight fell onto what appeared to be some kind of map like those he was used to seeing in a mall back home.

"Hold up, man," Wolfe called over to Kyle. Both stepped over to the map with Wolfe's flashlight the main source of light in the dark.

Wolfe traced his finger over the map. He had to squint to really make out everything underneath the plastic covering over the map itself; a lot of dirt or something had collected on it. At last he found the red circle that marked where he and Kyle were at. "Nathan Avenue…" Wolfe looked over the map, amazed at how big Silent Hill really was. Whatever got it to turn into this kind of place had to be big. _Really_ big. Whitney could be anywhere at all.

"Well?" Kyle asked, looking around rather than at the map. He seemed more paranoid than Wolfe knew him to be.

"Well…," Wolfe looked at the nearest markings. "That would be Toluca Lake over there." He pointed with the flashlight to the massive body of water to the north. "If we stayed on the road going a ways that way…," Wolfe moved his flashlight to the west, "we'll run across Rosewater Park."

Kyle paced back and forth. What was he so shifty about suddenly? Wolfe knew this was out of the ordinary, but he didn't really feel threatened, which was a relief. "Anything else?" Kyle finally asked.

Wolfe looked back at the map. Neely Dr. was to the south, but a quick look in that direction left them with only the option of continuing down Nathan. Neely was completely blocked off by piles of trash, barbed wire, road blocks, and other bits and pieces that made an impassable blockade. "Nope. To Rosewater Park." Wolfe stepped back and tried to see down the road, wishing he knew a little bit more about what was going on here.

Traversing the road wasn't as hard as Wolfe thought it would have been. The night time and fog was a pain, but at least they had some sort of direction now. Whitney always liked the park back home, so maybe she was at this park. Why she would be here was beyond Wolfe, but he was determined to find her and then get out. He would then get back on with life as usual with an adventure story to tell everyone else back home.

"Think we could just get a boat out of here?" Kyle asked once they neared one of the docks at the edge of the land.

Water gently lapped at the dock's support pillars and the three boats tied down at the end. It was soothing, somehow. Wolfe could just make out what looked like decorative hedges and possibly statues near some small building. The rental and bait shop, maybe? Either way, it looked just as lifeless as the rest of Silent Hill.

"Whitney?" Wolfe called out, hearing his voice echo back to him from the empty waters of Toluca Lake.

He and Kyle moved past the first dock right on towards the second. Their flashlights gave no light on anything other than what they would expect to see in a park. Once they were away from the docks, the two wondered into more of a traditional park setting with a cobblestone path to lead the way. The hedges were more abundant here, as were a couple of odd statues that looked like people and dogs. Memorials, perhaps? Wolfe continued down the hollow-sounding trail with Kyle all the while searching for any signs that someone had been here.

"There," Kyle pointed his flashlight to the left. The soft light illuminated some kind of pavilion like the ones Wolfe was used to seeing filled with people and food alike back home. This one was quite empty.

"What is it?" Wolfe asked, trying to see whatever had caught Kyle's attention.

"Didn't you see it?" Kyle asked, already stepping away from the path and into the pavilion with his light searching.

Wolfe stepped in after him. "I didn't see anything…"

"There was a fire right here…," Kyle knelt down at a pile of ashes in the center that held nothing more than dead, burned substances.

"Kyle, what are you talking about? There's nobody here but us… How was there a fire?" Wolfe asked.

Kyle shook his head, running his hand through the ashes and soot as if determined to find the alleged fire underneath. Wolfe was about to try and tell him again that there was nothing else there until he caught sight of soot that seemed to be strayed away in one particular spot from the source. "Hey, right there." Wolfe waved the flashlight over the spot, and followed the soot like a trail until it was swallowed up out of view by the fog.

Kyle was already on it with Wolfe just behind him. They followed the odd, scraggly trail out of the pavilion and back along the cobblestone path. It followed back around the hedges and statues, all the way back to the docks and the building they saw earlier. They followed it until it finally stopped at the back door that was left slightly ajar.

Wolfe looked at Kyle, and Kyle looked back. There seemed to be a faint light coming from inside the building. Wolfe already hoped that it was Whitney, but what if it wasn't? They couldn't just barge in, whether there had been some accident or not.

_Boy aren't you going to feel stupid whenever they tell you the town's out at some free concert for the night and this was all just one big scare trip…_

Wolfe smiled at the stupid thought and then came back to the reality of what this was. Maybe it wasn't as stupid or simple as that. What if there was something wrong with the person inside?

_Why not stop asking questions to yourself and just knock like a normal human being?_

Wolfe finally did what his mind was telling him, and knocked gently on the door.

"Just a moment…," came a reply from a female voice inside, though it wasn't Whitney. Footsteps echoed from some kind of wooden floor inside before the door quietly opened up for the two boys.

Standing in the door was a young girl that couldn't have been much older than Wolfe or Kyle with shoulder-length brown hair parted down the middle. She was wearing a sleeveless green vest buttoned up over a long sleeved white shirt, and a black knee-length skirt. She was kinda cute.

_Focus._

Wolfe shook the thought.

"It's been a long time since I've had any visitors…," the girl said while pushing back a strand of hair. "Please, come inside. It's a bit late for you to be out wondering the streets."

After getting the formalities out of the way with the girl (Keri), Wolfe and Kyle were seated in a rather shoddy living room of sorts. Wolfe wondered how anyone could live in such a place with the overturned furniture, broken glass, only some candles as a light source… Someone even painted "Liar" in huge red letters across one of the walls. Wolfe kept his comments to himself; he didn't want to offend Keri. Still, it didn't settle well with him that she was living like this.

"I was here with a group for awhile," Keri explained as she came in with a tray containing glasses of water and bread. Wolfe felt his stomach knot at the thought of a girl living in a place like Silent Hill and living off such things. His mind shifted back to Whitney…

"Where are they?" Kyle asked with drink in hand.

"It's so nice to see human faces again!" Keri cheerfully exclaimed after everyone got their share of the "meal". "Rosewater Park was always the nicest spot in town, so I always saw it as some kind of escape from it all."

"Human faces…?" Wolfe whispered to himself. "Escape from it all?" His eyes passed over the "Liar" graffiti again, somehow unable to keep it out of his mind. None of this seemed to bother Kyle like it did Wolfe. He actually seemed a little more relaxed than earlier.

"I grew up here," Keri said as she relaxed back into the ratty blue sofa chair. "My friends wanted me to show them around town, but I told them I couldn't."

"What happened?" Kyle asked. "You grew up here, so give us a little background…"

Keri smiled like all was well, "As long as we're here, we're safe. My friends wouldn't listen to me, though."

_Liar…_

Wolfe was suddenly finding it hard to concentrate on what Keri was saying. She was talking about how she played with her friends and what school was like when she was growing up… a bunch of useless information, but Wolfe couldn't get the graffiti out of his head. It filled his mind like some kind of growing shadow, covering up all that it touched.

_Cheater._

Wolfe looked up, and saw that the "Liar" was now "Cheater." Was no one else looking at this? Kyle and Keri continued talking like nothing was out of the ordinary, but Wolfe saw what was going on. He shook his head and took a drink of the water, feeling the cold liquid rinse down the dry insides of his mouth and throat.

"Where are your friends now?" Wolfe tuned back into the conversation finally when Kyle asked the question. "Are they coming back?"

Keri merely shrugged with that same cheerful smile, "There's always that chance!"

Wolfe finally asked his own question now that he was back in touch, "Has anybody else been through here? A girl named Whitney?"

Keri tilted her head at Wolfe, "I'm afraid I haven't seen anybody else. As I said before, you're the first visitors in a long time. Ever since everybody went crazy and dressed funny, I hid away here where nobody seems to come anymore."

"Wait a minute, you said that everyone went crazy?" Kyle asked, leaning forward a bit with hands clasped. He was shaking…

"Yes. It seemed like everybody started hating each other, killing each other… So I ran away and hid here, where nobody—"

"—seems to come anymore, yeah." Kyle finished the statement for her. "What about your friends, for the third time?"

"I think it's time we got some sleep. It's very late, you see." Keri's cheerful disposition wasn't changing for anything, it seemed, and she was constantly avoiding the subject of what happened. "Why not head upstairs? There a couple of beds made up for you." Keri looked over at the stairway in the back, sounding as if she'd been expecting the company.

"…Sure…" Kyle stood up without even bothering to take the glass of water or any of the bread with him. Wolfe watched after him, then looked at Keri. She was looking at him with those pretty green eyes.

"Can I ask you something?" Wolfe queried, now wanting to know about the painted letters on the wall. They said "Liar" again.

"Anything at all," Keri said, not moving.

"Who painted 'Liar' on your wall?"

Keri finally showed some emotion other than cheer as she quirked a brow slightly at Wolfe, "What are you talking about?" She looked around. Was she actually looking for it?

"Over there," Wolfe pointed behind Keri, and she looked. When she turned back around, she looked even more puzzled.

"I don't see anything, Mr. Wolfe. Please don't play these games with me. I worked hard to keep this place up."

Wolfe stared at her with disbelief. Tidying up was one thing, but even Wolfe could tell she couldn't have even tried. Overturned coffee table, busted up and dusty sofas and chairs, writing on the wall she claimed to not even see, garbage in the corners… Wolfe suddenly had the feeling Keri wasn't all there, and the feeling wasn't helped by her avoidance on the subject of her friends and the way she talked about everyone else going crazy and killing each other.

"Sorry. I'll head upstairs and leave you be." Wolfe decided it would be for the best, so after setting his glass down in the rusted sink that took up one corner of the room, he headed upstairs. "Goodnight."

"If you wish, there are some clothes in the closet up there," she glanced over Wolfe's work clothes. "Sweet dreams, Mr. Wolfe."

Wolfe opened the door at the top of the stairway and stepped into the small upstairs room. Like Keri said, there were two naked beds on either side of the room, and again a candle as a light source. Apparently Silent Hill was void of electricity as well as people. Kyle was sitting on the right bed next to a window, cigarette in hand.

"Hey, man. You okay?" Wolfe asked, sitting on the free bed on the left after changing out of his work shirt into a red t shirt. "You seemed a bit out of it down there."

"I just want to know what the Hell's going on here." Kyle took a drag on the cigarette and exhaled slowly. "Have you ever had that feeling that you're never going to leave?"

Wolfe never knew Kyle to think like this. Kyle was always laid back and care-free, and suddenly he felt like this? Wolfe felt a bit guilty about bringing him along, but he didn't want to come along… "Why do you ask?"

"There's something wrong about this place, dude. Can't you tell?" Another drag. "I don't mean the abandoned buildings, the barricades, or any of that. There's just something _wrong_ about this place, something unnatural. Don't tell me you haven't felt it."

Wolfe did remember feeling like that before when they first came into Silent Hill, but it didn't bother him that much. "We're going to leave soon, man. I just want to make sure Whitney's safe, and we'll be out of here. I promise."

Kyle didn't even look at Wolfe. "Somehow it just doesn't feel like it's going to be that easy."

"If you want to leave, all you have to do is—"

"No. I'm not leaving you in this place alone. You heard Keri. I know that she's missing a couple of screws, but she knows something about this place that we don't, and she's not telling." Kyle flicked the cigarette butt out of the window. "My grandparents always worried about their friends after they heard about the accident. I'm going to find out what happened and at least tell them what the media won't."

Wolfe watched as Kyle lay down on his back with arms crossed, not another word escaping his lips. Wolfe wanted to thank him, to tell him it would be cool and that they would be out of here in no time. Suddenly, though, he felt that same anxiety that Kyle was talking about. Not only that, but his stomach was starting to hurt. Wolfe held it with both arms, leaning over some in pain. Slowly he lay down on his side, facing the wall. Sleep was probably the best thing for both of them now. Wolfe just hoped that Whitney was somewhere safe until he could find her…

Wolfe yawned, surprised to feel the fatigue and exhaustion come up all of a sudden. He'd been okay up until now. It had to be past midnight by now. He closed his eyes slowly, feeling the ache in his stomach ease just a little bit. The last thing he remembered hearing was Kyle lightly snoring, out already…

"Oh my God!"

Wolfe woke with a start and shot up in the bed at the sound of Keri screaming. Kyle was already on his feet, "It came from the roof!"

Wolfe and Kyle both looked at the window in the back of the room, the white curtains fluttering slightly. It was lighter outside, but grey rather than what daylight usually looked like. It was still foggy as Hell…

_And it could be sunny with the sound of birds singing. Who gives a damn? Did you hear that scream?_

Kyle looked out the window, "She's up there!"

The ceiling was low… Keri probably didn't have a probably climbing up from the window, but why?

_Bam… Bam… Bam…_

There came a pounding from somewhere downstairs. It sounded like it was at the front door. Wolfe instantly thought about what Keri said about everyone becoming violent towards each other. She also said that she was safe here, so what was going on?

"Kyle, we need to…," Wolfe turned back around, and saw that Kyle was already out of the window. His footsteps echoed from the ceiling.

Wolfe heard a loud crash from downstairs, and Wolfe was suddenly sure that he didn't want to meet whoever it was that had to make _that_ kind of an entrance. Wolfe followed in Keri and Kyle's steps, sitting up on the windowsill and pulling himself up to the roof with little effort.

"Wolfe, did you fuckin' see that!" Kyle was looking over the farthest edge of the roof. Keri was pacing quickly back and forth, and Wolfe could tell she was panicking by her short breaths and quick steps.

"Can't say that I did…" Wolfe looked over the same edge, seeing nothing down there now. Whoever it was, they were in the house, and probably heading up. "We can't stay here."

"It's all your fault!" Keri shrieked, pacing over to them and pushing Wolfe back some. He waved his arms, keeping his balance on the roof. "You brought them here, you bastards!"

"I don't know what the Hell you're talking about," Kyle said, pulling Keri away from Wolfe.

Keri pulled free from Kyle, glowering with some kind of anger at Kyle, then back at Wolfe. When she saw Wolfe, that anger turned to fear. "You…" She pointed at him. "It's… It's you." She backed up. "Why didn't I see it…?"

Wolfe felt sweat breaking out on his forehead. He'd never been here before, so what was Keri getting at? "Hey, calm down…"

"Shit!" Kyle jumped back as something jutted upward from beneath his feet. Wolfe's eyes widened, seeing that in the split second it was visible that it looked like an enormous blade of some sort. But Wolfe had never seen a blade made that huge, and whoever was hefting had to be one Hell of a body builder…

The blade withdrew, and Wolfe suddenly felt like Kyle and Keri were in danger. For some reason, he wasn't feeling the same for himself. The blade shot back up again, this time just barely missing Keri. It wasn't in his mind; somehow, Wolfe knew that he wasn't going to be attacked. "We have to get out of here!"

Kyle was watching the ground in wide-eyed fear, ready to jump at anything. "Any bright ideas?"

If they went through the windows, Keri and Kyle would run into whoever was in there and be dead in no time. The building was too high to somehow climb down…

"It's all your fault!" Keri pointed at Wolfe again. "Get out! You'll just make everything worse than it already is!" Her eyes were wide and dilated.

Before Wolfe could even ask what she meant, Keri propelled herself off the building's edge. The solid crunch of her body hitting the cobblestone far below came only seconds later with a short grunt. Wolfe stared, unable to even go to the edge and look. Kyle wasn't moving either, but staring at Wolfe now. "What the Hell…?"

The sound of something heavy dragging on the floor below broke the silence. Kyle and Wolfe both looked through the massive gashes that were left at their feet, and all Wolfe saw was the tip of that massive blade being dragged just out of view at the base of the stairs. Both moved to the edge of the building, but they could only hear the sound of the blade being dragged on carpet to the sound of it dragging on cobblestone. The fog was too thick to see far enough, even in the dull light of the day. Soon enough, the sound faded away into the distance.

Wolfe looked up at Kyle. Kyle slowly looked up at Wolfe, as if wanting to ask what the Hell Keri meant even though he knew that Wolfe didn't know. Wolfe wanted to know what Keri meant, what the Hell that thing was with the guy with the giant knife, where Whitney was… and now he really wanted to know what the Hell he'd gotten himself into.


End file.
